LA MONTAGNE NOIRE
The Montagne Noire (Black Mountain) at Mazamet, watching over the Pyrenees while sliding towards Toulouse and the rich Lauragais plain
Legend has it that the Montagne Noire came into being when the fairy Nore swung her sword to the aid of her gnome friends Taur, Bug and Arach, who were trying to build a stone rampart with their own hands to protect themselves from the northerly winds. The last bastion of the Massif Central, the Montagne Noire joins the plains of the Tarn, Hérault and Aude. Forests and stonework, valleys and plateaus follow one another. At its highest point is the Pic de Nore (1,214 m), and at its deepest flows the water that Pierre-Paul Riquet diverted in the 17th century to supply the Canal du Midi. Water was instrumental in the rise of industry in the Thoré valley, providing the energy to process wool, wood, stone and leather. In the past, people settled on the plateaus, as witnessed by the medieval village of Hautpoul, the oppidum of Berniquaut or the Roman forges of Les Martys, then towns developed at the foot of the mountain. Durfort, bastion of the coppersmiths, Dourgne and its monasteries, Sorèze and its abbey-school, Labruguière, home of Arthur Batut, inventor of aerial kite photography. Close to the sea, the Montagne Noire watches over the Pyrenees as it glides towards Toulouse and the rich Lauragais plain. Here, craftsmen have worked glass, forged metal, woven wool, carved wood and cut stone, and the tradition lives on... The Montagne Noire is also, of course, a region of natural beauty, farm producers, tourist attractions and an attractive heritage.
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